If you’ve ever worked on a Google Sheets spreadsheet that uses decimal values, you may have noticed that Google Sheets sometimes automatically rounds your decimal numbers. This can be a big problem if you need your spreadsheet to display precise figures.
This blog post will guide you through the process of stopping Google Sheets from rounding your decimal numbers. It’s a simple process that doesn’t require any advanced knowledge of Google Sheets or programming.
Using the Format Cells Option
The first and easiest approach to stop Google Sheets from rounding is to use the ‘Format Cells’ option. Here’s how:
- Select the cell or range of cells you want to format.
- Click on the ‘Format’ tab in the top menu.
- Hover over ‘Number’ in the dropdown menu.
- Choose the number of decimal places you want from the secondary menu that appears. If you don’t want Google Sheets to round your number, select ‘Automatic’.
Once you’ve completed these steps, Google Sheets will stop rounding your number and display the exact value you’ve entered.
Using a Custom Formula
If you need a more specific format or if you’re working with very large decimal numbers, you might want to use a custom formula to prevent Google Sheets from rounding. Here’s how you can do it:
Assume we have a decimal number in cell A1 and we want to prevent Google Sheets from rounding it.
=TEXT(A1,"0.0000000000")
In the above formula, “0.0000000000” is the format we’re applying to the number. You can replace that with any number format you want. For example, if you want to display 5 decimal places, you can use “0.00000”.
Wrap up your cell reference (in this case, A1) with the TEXT function and the format you want.
Conclusion
Preventing Google Sheets from rounding your decimal numbers is actually a very easy process. You can either use the ‘Format Cells’ option for an easy fix or a custom formula if you need more specificity.
Remember, it’s important to have precise numbers in your spreadsheets, especially if you’re dealing with financial data or other sensitive information. So, make sure you understand how to stop Google Sheets from automatically rounding your numbers.